Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro

The United Nations Conference for Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro was the first large international conference focused on global environmental questions since the 1972 UN meeting in Stockholm. Known as the “Earth Summit,” the conference presented and introduced the concept of sustainable development as a strategy for the future to the world public, and developed the action program Agenda 21, both milestones on the path towards sustainability. Also adopted were the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the UN Forest Declaration, and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. To help ensure a successful follow-up to UNCED, the UN Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) was founded. On the twentieth anniversary in June 2012, the next Earth Summit, Rio+20, was held in Brazil.